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Fishing Report

Central Valley Striper Fly Fishing Report

Central Valley Striper Fly Fishing Report

Hogan Brown Reports on May 25th, 2025



Lake season has wrapped up on Lake Oroville, as we saw our first jet ski and floating couch being towed around to the sounds of top 40 country--making it the official start of river striper season, that runs June-October. We have had a great run of migratory fish on all our valley rivers this spring, we have plenty of water in the reservoirs for the summer, and while pulse flows this spring can make fishing tough we should see some stabilization in flows soon. Fishing has been fair to good this last week and should be getting better over the next few weeks as flows stabilize and clarity improves. June-August, with stable weather and consistent flows on most valley rivers, should be great fishing for resident and hold migratory fish like usual. 


Capt. Hogan Brown 

Fly Fishing Guide

Co-Founder of the Cal Bass Union

Owner Alluvial Marketing Collective


530-514-2453



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Redding Area Trout & Bass Fly Fishing Report

Redding Area Trout & Bass Fly Fishing Report

Aaron Grabiel reports on May 14th, 2025

Lower Sacramento River – Redding to Red Bluff

Target Species: Wild Rainbow Trout
Conditions: The flows are bouncing around a bit, but should stabilize going forward.
Hatches: PMD, golden stones, salmonflies, yellow sallies, caddis and March browns. 

Report: The Lower Sacramento River is fishing fair to great.  It's been inconsistent to say the least, but we are getting enough fish on the slow days to keep us entertained. When we get consistent flows and trout are actively feeding, it is really good. There are enough options to go check out other locations if the Lower Sac happens to be slow. It's that time of year where you can fish just about any stream or river and have a solid day. We are really looking forward to the temperatures heating up and more prolific hatches and extremely consistent fishing on the Lower Sac.

Upper Sacramento River – Dunsmuir to Shasta Lake

Target Species: Rainbow Trout
Flows: Moderate to high; approximately 1,450 CFS at Delta.
Hatches: Salmonflies, black caddis, baetis, March brown and green drakes.

Report: The Upper Sacramento is in fair shape. While flows remain elevated, water clarity is good. Anglers are finding better wading opportunities above Simms. Nymphing with rubber legs, springtime Koudous patterns, small mayfly and midge patterns is working well, and small streamers fished deep in the runs can trigger strikes. The old Chubby Chernobyl as a dry dropper rig with a Perdigón style fly to cover riffles can be very productive. Don't forget when nymphing, to focus some time on the softer edges, especially when there's not a substantial hatch.

Hat Creek – Powerhouse Riffles

Target Species: Rainbow and Brown Trout
Conditions: Clear water with consistent insect activity.
Hatches: Salmonflies, PMD's, black caddis, sculpins, golden stones, and yellow sallies.

Report: Very short nymph rigs, dry dropper, Czech nymphing and dry fly fishing will all produce fish. On Hat Creek, I would typically stick to whatever you know best, if you're out there on your own without a guide. The fish are very finicky so just fish your strengths and find the fish that will commit to those techniques. There's always fish eating something in that creek just a matter of presenting inside their little window that they want to feed in without spooking them.

Other Small Streams

Conditions:  Runoff is beginning to slow and many of the small streams around are beginning to fish very well.  It's time to go, book ASAP.

Report: The small streams are fishing very well it's time to get out there and do it before they get too low or a ton of people start showing up. If you're interested in doing some really cool walk and wade stuff on small streams with hungry trout, give us an email or text and we can discuss which fisheries might work best for your outing.

Bass'n – Shasta Lake / Trinity Lake / Lake Oroville

Target Species: Bass and Trout

Hot Techniques: Float and Fly, stripping small minnow imitations.

Report: Shasta Lake continues to produce both trout and bass. Bass are bedding so sight fishing to larger fish is in the mix.  There are also pre and post spawn fish chasing shad balls around and trout can show up to the party anytime. With the current water temperatures, the bass are feeding aggressively so you can go out there and catch a bunch of fish. Haven't seen a good topwater bite yet but it should happen anytime now.

Trinity lake has some spawning fish. Seems that the smallmouth are spawning pretty well. We did catch one post-spawn largemouth, but it seemed that most of them had not spawned yet as of last week - though they should be pushing shallow in big numbers. You can fish from the shore down to 10 feet at this point and never have to go any deeper and catch a bunch of fish.

Lake Oroville though we don't have the permitting to guide this lake, we were able to help out with the cast hope benefit tournament. It was a lot of fun, those Oroville bass sure are chunky. They were fighting super hard and average in the 2+ pound range. It is truly a cool fishery. Certainly message us if you'd like to participate in the tournament next year. It is fly fishing only and the food, lodging, company and fishing are great. 

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Lower Sac & Lake Oroville Fly Fishing Report

Lower Sac & Lake Oroville Fly Fishing Report
Lower Sac Striper Report
The river is stable and settled after a fair amount of rain in late December. Fishing has been fair and very typical for the winter. Clarity is about 1’ in most areas requiring BIG and LOUD flies - black and purple, all black and all with rattles. Fish will feed usually in low light conditions or during the warmest part of the day. When we have no cloud cover, I find midday during the heat of the day is best and when there is cloud cover and the low air temp for the day is not as bad, low light conditions during the early morning and evening are best. Winter is not a numbers game, but can provide some true trophy fish for the angler that wants to put in the time.

Lake Oroville
With the recent rains the lake has been coming up, but seems to have stabilized a bit, over the last week. There is less moving water coming into the lake than there was a few weeks ago with the big rains right after Christmas. That said, most creeks are running strong and there is plenty of moving water coming into the lake in the deeper coves. Water clarity is good and fish are concentrating on Japanese pond smelt that are schooling up and can be seen on most fish finders. Fish will also eat dark leech patterns early and late in the day and in the shade. Fishing should continue to improve over the spring and topwater options as well as stripped fly options will increase. 

Capt. Hogan Brown 

Fly Fishing Guide

Co-Founder of the Cal Bass Union

Owner Alluvial Marketing Collective


 
 
 
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Lower Sac & Lake Oroville Fly Fishing Report

Lower Sac & Lake Oroville Fly Fishing Report
Lower Sac Striper Fishing - We have officially entered winter striper season with the time change and the first rains of the year. Usually, this means water temperatures drop to what we consider "winter temps," slowing the fish's metabolism and shortening the feeding windows during the day. With the fish being more lethargic, the number of calories they need to consume changes, meaning they tend to favor larger, more infrequent meals, in our experience.
Winter can be tough for striper fishing on the river and we traditionally say that it can be very good or very tough, with most of that being out of our control—or our anglers' control. That said, you never know unless you go, and some of our biggest fish of the year come during the uncertain winter months.

Lake Oroville Report - Lake Oroville is fishing fair to good as our fall/winter season gets underway. Wakasagi minnows are schooling in the backs of the forks and spotted bass are beginning to congregate around these schools. The key to catching fish this time of year is locating the schools of bait, so electronics are crucial to success. Early mornings have been best on sunny days and as the sun rises, it's important to focus on shaded areas, where fish pull off the bait schools. Float and fly rigs, with the float set at about 10-12 feet, have been most effective and flies like Ragan’s Drop Dead Minnow are getting the job done.
Fishing should continue to improve over the next few months as rain starts moving water through the tributaries and creeks and baitfish move higher in the water column.

Capt. Hogan Brown 

Fly Fishing Guide

Co-Founder of the Cal Bass Union

Owner Alluvial Marketing Collective


530-514-2453
 
 
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